Why Canada and Sweden will meet in a final

[tml_hockey]

Then the final will be Germany vs Slovakia..

its not too difficult.

 

[BuppY]

Canada, the superpower in hockey will look to retake the world cup trophy from the US squad this fall. Canada and Sweden will win their groups and posssibly square of in a final.

So why Sweden you say? For starters, many believe that this is the last shot Sweden have to reign World cup supremery.

2nd: Forsberg and Naslund unites for the first time since WJC where they teared up the competition and Forsberg broke the all-time scoring record with 31 points in 7 games.

Either Forsberg or Naslund has always been absent when they had a chance to play with eachother.

In 1994 olympics, Naslund wasn't there. In 1996 world cup, Naslund wasn't there. In 1998 olympics Naslund wasn't there. in 2002 salt lake, Forsberg wasn't there.

The only time they have reunited was in 2003 allstar game where
Bertuzzi - Forsberg - Naslund (new modo line?) teared up the competition.

Look for Forsberg and Naslund to take the final chance of playing together.

3rd: The Swedish PP lineup is extraordinary. They could field:

Naslund- Forsberg-Alfredsson with Sundin and Lidstrom as the defenders. It's 3 NHL captains,1 lester p winner, 2 calder winners, 1 hart trophy winner, 1 art ross winner, 1 Conn Smythe winner and 3 times Norris winner in 1 line. OMG!

4th: We are hungry! Forsberg just had a succesful surgery and he said all eyes are on world cup. The Swedes want revenge for Belarus disasater.

Go Sweden, I breathe hockey, and I love Hockey. I am very proud of my hockey country. Take the last chance of glory, take it!


Good luck to the other teams as well. Canada is the clear favorite.

How come everytime Sweden is in a Tournament with all their players.. Everyone tends to forget their best player when it comes to International play ..MATS SUNDIN.. In last 10 years he has been one of th best International players out there and he has the stats to back it up .. I am a big Sundin fan and I just don't understand how he is always forgotten when it comes to Team Sweden ..

 

[Jussi]

and what if the final will be Germany vs Slovakia?

Then hell has officially frozen.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

The way I see it:

-Lidstrom is twice the defenceman that anyone USA would have to offer. If their best is Schneider, its Lidstrom>>Schneider.

-Ohlund is currently better than slowcher, err, I mean Hatcher.

-Norstrom isnt as good offensively as Leetch, obviously, but he is far better in his own end of the rink.

-K.Johnsson is better than Leopold, Miller, Klee, and *maybe* Rafalski.

 

[William H Bonney]

The way I see it:

-Lidstrom is twice the defenceman that anyone USA would have to offer. If their best is Schneider, its Lidstrom>>Schneider.

-Ohlund is currently better than slowcher, err, I mean Hatcher.

-Norstrom isnt as good offensively as Leetch, obviously, but he is far better in his own end of the rink.

-K.Johnsson is better than Leopold, Miller, Klee, and *maybe* Rafalski.

 

[Gags1288]

I don't see anything wrong with his post, what is it that you disagree with?

Sweden has three top 20 defenseman in the NHL, two of them are easily top 10. I would also argue that if Kim Johnsson can get healthy by that time, he is also easily a top 20 defenseman in the NHL and a great puck mover. Johnsson and Ragnarsson have great chemistry together as a #2 or #3 pair. Lidstrom can play with anyone, as can Ohlund. I'm from the U.S. and a U.S.A. hockey fan, but there defense isn't close to as good as Sweden's. Three of the defenseman on Sweden would have a good chance at making Canada's D, I don't think anyone on the U.S. with the possible exception of Leetch would make team Canada. 1-6, Sweden is considerably better, imo.

 

[Kronblom]

How come everytime Sweden is in a Tournament with all their players.. Everyone tends to forget their best player when it comes to International play ..MATS SUNDIN.. In last 10 years he has been one of th best International players out there and he has the stats to back it up .. I am a big Sundin fan and I just don't understand how he is always forgotten when it comes to Team Sweden ..

He´s not forgotten, at least not by swedes.

39 goals in 67 games with Team Sweden in the three big tournaments - the Olympics, the World Championships and the World/Canada Cup. Not too shabby for a player with three WC-goldmedals...

Mats has made the 1st All Star Team the following times:

World Championships 1991 (almost, the 2nd team this time)
Canada Cup 1991
World Championships 1992
World Championships 1994
World Cup 1996
World Championships 1998
Olympics 2002
World Championships 2003

Team Sweden roster with national games played and goals scored

 

[jcpenny]

It all comes to goaltending. Canada lost the last world because of the "O so ever overrated" Curtis Joseph. I remember that Patrick Roy wasnt available for the tournament. If the goalie makes the big saves any team can win.

 

[monster_bertuzzi]

Whats so laughable? Sweden's top 4 almost, almost compares with Canada's with Pronger-Niedermayer-Blake-Jovanovski/Foote

 

[Rabid Ranger]

The main problem i have with the USA defense is that they are OLD. Derian Hatcher can barely skate, and Leetch isn't the player he used to be. Sweden's defense is still in its prime.

Derian Hatcher was a Norris Trophy finalist last season. He was injury plagued this year, but was healthy in the play-offs, and will have another three months to fully recover. Did you even watch Leetch play this year, especially with the Leafs? He was awesome.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

The way I see it:

-Lidstrom is twice the defenceman that anyone USA would have to offer. If their best is Schneider, its Lidstrom>>Schneider.

-Ohlund is currently better than slowcher, err, I mean Hatcher.

-Norstrom isnt as good offensively as Leetch, obviously, but he is far better in his own end of the rink.

-K.Johnsson is better than Leopold, Miller, Klee, and *maybe* Rafalski.

If Lidstrom is twice the player Schneider is, how come he was outplayed by Schneider this year? I'll give you the Ohlund/Hatcher comparision, not the best two to compare, but okay. Norstrom isn't far better than Leetch in his own end. Put it this way, Leetch is far better offensively than Norstrom is defensively, Leetch definitely comes out ahead there. You're out to lunch on Kim Johnsson. Leopold is better than him already.

 

[jcpenny]

If Lidstrom is twice the player Schneider is, how come he was outplayed by Schneider this year? I'll give you the Ohlund/Hatcher comparision, not the best two to compare, but okay. Norstrom isn't far better than Leetch in his own end. Put it this way, Leetch is far better offensively than Norstrom is defensively, Leetch definitely comes out ahead there. You're out to lunch on Kim Johnsson. Leopold is better than him already.

Leopold better than Johnsson??? My god you need to take off your homer glasses or review your hockey knowlegde. Johnsson is one HECK of a defensman the Flames would take him instead of Leopold anyday. Johnsson does everything on the ice and is close to be a number one defensman while Leopold is a good offensive defensman who needs to develop his defensive game and physical game. I'd like to know what the Swedes and Philly fans think about that one.

 

[psycho_dad*]

How come everytime Sweden is in a Tournament with all their players.. Everyone tends to forget their best player when it comes to International play ..MATS SUNDIN.. In last 10 years he has been one of th best International players out there and he has the stats to back it up .. I am a big Sundin fan and I just don't understand how he is always forgotten when it comes to Team Sweden ..

You are right. Mats Sundin has always been better than Peter Forsberg in international tournaments. Sundin has been almost close to Saku Koivu's level on big ice. But maybe Forsberg outplays Sundin this time...NHL size rink and all.

It makes a difference.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Leopold better than Johnsson??? My god you need to take off your homer glasses or review your hockey knowlegde. Johnsson is one HECK of a defensman the Flames would take him instead of Leopold anyday. Johnsson does everything on the ice and is close to be a number one defensman while Leopold is a good offensive defensman who needs to develop his defensive game and physical game. I'd like to know what the Swedes and Philly fans think about that one.

Im neither a swede or a philly fan, but Johnsson is better than Leopold for sure. Always a pleasure to watch him play. Johnsson was close to being number one defenseman. First there were some veterans who kept that 1st d-man title...and that's as close as he is gonna get in philly, 44 will be the #1 in no time.

 

[psycho_dad*]

Considering powerplay presence, work with worse linemates (since Forsberg always ends up with the best ones) I'd say what Sundin does for team Sweden would be much more than what Koivu does for Finland if he gets the spot he deserves, first line centre. FFS he coached team Sweden when they were losing to Finland 5-1 and turned the game! If I were a swede I'd get mad if someone else than he gets the c on their chest....

Actually, I have often seen Sundin and Forsberg share the same PP time and their ice times have not been so different. And Sundin has used it much better.

Nobody has been equal to Koivu though, closest ones have been Sundin and maybe Miro Satan. But they are different kinds of players and need different linemates. Saku is very mobile and agile, Sundin is a tank. A talented tank that is. Their roles are different.

Sundin coached the team?I thought they had Hardy! Well...it had little to do with swedens talent and a lot to do with finns freezing infront of home audience. You just dont lead 5-1 after half a game and then lose, because the other team is so good...hehe. If they were that good, you would not lead by a mile in the first place.

 

[Leo Naphta]

Satan has been the best man internationally on big ice. Doug Weight no doubt the second best man on big ice, I can't understand why he didn't centre USA's first line in the olympics, he's like a Koivu who can use his body a bit more and has better vision and can handle traffic better and hit harder passes.

I disagree. Anyone that had only watched international hockey the last ten to fifteen years would probably had come to the conclusion that Mats Sundin was the dominating player of his era. This is a guy that has been named to three out of four all-star teams when all NHL-players have participated. Not even Gretzky can match that (he has three out of six) Sundin has been named to countless all-star teams in the world championships as well as being named tournament MVP at least twice (98 and 03)

 

[wilka91*]

WHy compare Sundin to Gretzky? Gretzky sucks!

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Leopold better than Johnsson??? My god you need to take off your homer glasses or review your hockey knowlegde. Johnsson is one HECK of a defensman the Flames would take him instead of Leopold anyday. Johnsson does everything on the ice and is close to be a number one defensman while Leopold is a good offensive defensman who needs to develop his defensive game and physical game. I'd like to know what the Swedes and Philly fans think about that one.

Kim Johnsson is NOWHERE near being a number one defenseman. It's you who needs to review your hockey "knowlegde." If you think for an instant Calgary would trade Leopold for him you're off your rocker.

 

[BlueAndWhite]

Kim Johnsson is NOWHERE near being a number one defenseman. It's you who needs to review your hockey "knowlegde." If you think for an instant Calgary would trade Leopold for him you're off your rocker.

I think your comments in this thread qualify you for being "off your rocker". Rabid ? Yes. But let's keep it within reason.

It's one thing to be patriotic, but it's another to make statements like you've made.

i.e. Using one year to compare Schneider and Lidstrom.

 

[wilka91*]

What he does in private is not of interest. If we talk Gretzky let's just talk about the player who made the Oilers an NHL team.

:lol

nice one

 

[Preds666]

:lol

nice one

are you going nuts?.. making fun of yourself?

 

[wilka91*]

are you going nuts?.. making fun of yourself?

:lol

I quoted the wrong message

 

[SChan*]

Wow alot of good conversations in this thread. Not alot of flaming either. Nice

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I think your comments in this thread qualify you for being "off your rocker". Rabid ? Yes. But let's keep it within reason.

It's one thing to be patriotic, but it's another to make statements like you've made.

i.e. Using one year to compare Schneider and Lidstrom.

True or false? Did Schneider have a better year than Lidstrom THIS year? Do you feel as if Lidstrom is twice the defenseman of anyone on the U.S. roster? If you do, we disagree. Nothing wrong with that. If you think Kim Johnsson is a number one defenseman, so I be it. I don't agree there either.

 

[jcpenny]

True or false? Did Schneider have a better year than Lidstrom THIS year? Do you feel as if Lidstrom is twice the defenseman of anyone on the U.S. roster? If you do, we disagree. Nothing wrong with that. If you think Kim Johnsson is a number one defenseman, so I be it. I don't agree there either.

Make a poll and make people choose between Johnsson and Leopold. Right now Johnsson is miles ahead of Leopold. I'd like to know how come you think Leopold is better cuz it doesnt make any sense.